Wash day files : the curious case of the DIY prepoo

04:22
Naija girl next door
11 Comments

Hello people!
Let me first quickly share what I've been doing with my hair before this wash day-
On sunday after I wore it down, I did a hot oil prepoo with coconut oil and cowashed. I didn't stretch out my new growth so the next morning my attempt at a smooth bun failed woefully. I gave up trying to force it into submission and I've been doing this roll and tuck style below:

I've been leaving it well alone, only taking down to moisturise and seal.

Wash Day
I needed my hair softened and I wanted to prepoo with more than just the usual oil. The kitchen was calling and milk came to mind. I googled to see if other black women are using (cow's) milk in their hair. I may be wrong but it appears very few are (saw none in my brief search). A lot of coconut milk turned up instead.
Oh well, can't hurt to try right?

Pre - poo : 1 heaped teaspoon powdered milk+ 2 teaspoons of water for a thick liquid + a teaspoon each of honey, olive oil, coconut oil. It had the consistency of totally melted ice cream. Then I put the dish in a bowl of very hot water and a curious thing happened-
It firmed into a very thick, creamy butter. I'm not sure this will happen with fresh milk.

I spritzed with water and applied in 4 sections. it hardened my hair somewhat and had ZERO slip so don't try to detangle at this point if you try this. I covered quickly with a shower cap because milk dries hard, then wrapped with a towel and did some chores for 3 hours.

Wash- The milk and honey butter rinsed out very easily and I cowashed with my vo5 conditioner. My hair felt amazing! The hardness was gone, it was softened and hydrated and felt injected with health. This prepoo will definitely be revisited.

Deep condition- with ORS replenishing conditioner. This stuff works great on its own and interacts well with anything else I put in my hair. No surprises- lots of slip, moisture, soft new growth... happy me.

Detangle: with my fingers and then my wide toothed comb. I had to consciously stop myself from running my fingers through my hair. It felt that good.
6 months post and it didn't feel like it.

I put in four braids to stretch out my new growth and went to bed.

The next day I went to the market and I had the option of a braidout or a wig. I went with the wig. Naija markets are not the scene for cuteness. It turned out to be a good decision- I would have sweated out my braidout.
Much later in the day when I went out, it ended up in a bun.
How was your wash day? Head on over to the wash day linkup with Jen and KLP by clicking on the link below :)The wash day experience page

Xx,
NGND

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11 comments:

That was brave.. i'm glad it worked out for you though... I usually save all the experimenting for when my hair is freshly relaxed so I can easily wash it out.. I tend to stay out of the kitchen though 'cause I once ended up with ants in my hair (story for another day) lol..

My ants story already showed up on Africa Naturalistas. So there I was fresh out of nysc armed with healthy hair practices. My sister gifted me a package of hair goodies from America and my mum was like "what will you do when you run out of products?" so I tried to prove that I could make do with honey and olive oil and all kinda fruits. I probably didn't wash them out well. At night while sleeping with my brand new satin pillowcase, I felt multiple pinching sensations on my scalp. I turned on the lights and saw ants all over my pillow and more in my hair. Biting away. My mum had to get out a picking comb to get out all the ants that night. At least we got to bond in a way that we hadn't since my days of picking lice from my schoolmates in primary school..

Thanks a lot :) I started my hair journey as a student so I had to keep it simple and use inexpensive products. They worked so I'm keeping it that way. I'm transitioning and I admire those like you with the courage to big chop. Good luck on your hair journey!